Losing weight can be difficult, but there are many programs to help you diet and exercise in healthy ways in order to take off the extra fat. One such diet is called the South Beach Diet, which is a plan developed by Dr. Arthur Agatson. This diet focuses on the glycemic index and helps participants learn the different between good and bad carbohydrates and fats. This diet is designed to work with your lifestyle so that you can live a healthy live for many years to come.
The South Beach Diet is slightly different than other weight loss diets because is is divided in three phases, each with their own weight loss rules. Each phrase comes with a list of foods allowed and forbidden foods and the program’s literature will give you information about why you’re eating what you are eating.
Phase one lasts for two weeks and is very strict. In this phase, you eat few carbohydrates and remove a number of foods from your diet completely, including fruit, pasta, potatoes, alcohol, sugar, and bread. This phase is never meant to extend for the rest of your life, but is instead meant to kill certain cravings. Most dieters find that they do not crave breads or sugars after phase one. The theory behind phase one is that our bodies react to the foods we eat, so by completely cutting out all of the bad foods, we flip a switch that tells our body to react different and stop storing fat.
During the second phase, you get to look at your forbidden foods lists and start to add them back into your diet. You can’t eat everything on the list without a care in the world, but you can pick the foods you enjoy most and add them back into your diet in moderation. After phase two, you enter the final phase, which is meant to last for the rest of your life. While there are a few basic rules to follow in phase three, by this time, the program’s guidelines should have become your way of life. Therefore, you won’t need restrictions any longer—you’ll just automatically make good eating choices.
To follow the South Beach Diet, it is important for your to purchase and read the book that will give you completely guidelines. As always, remember to talk to your doctor before making any drastic changes in your diet, and plan exercise, because no matter how good a diet is, you won’t lose weight with healthy eating alone.
